Hellenistic Stelai From Demetrias on:
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In the ancient Greek city of
This Stele was discovered in Magnesia and is determined to date back to 276-168 BCE. It is made of marble, and is meant as a memorial to Aphrodeisia. The top of the stele is an inscription informing the reader that the painting below is of Aphrodeisia. Aphrodeisia is wearing a blue/green chiton and sitting on a chair, being offered jewelry, which she is accepting. It is not clear the context of the situation, but she may be at her wedding due to the dress.
It is currently on display in Vólos, Thessaly, Greece.
This partial stele is not in as good condition as the Aphrodeisia stele, but it still provides detail about hellenistic culture and what funerary stelai could have represented. The white marble stele, discovered in Magnesia, shows two men, most likely soldiers. They are thought to be soldiers because of the clothing of the sitting man, which is brought up above his knees, and the spears the men are carrying. It is impossible to determine who these warriors are, as their entire top halves are missing. The standing man is nude, and is also carrying a dagger.{{Cite web, url=http://library.artstor.org/#/asset/SS7730901_7730901_10901340, title=Stele of the ‘Warriors’, Full, website=Artstor, access-date=2017-10-31
In the ancient Greek city of Demetrias
Demetrias ( grc, Δημητριάς) was a Greek city in Magnesia in ancient Thessaly (east central Greece), situated at the head of the Pagasaean Gulf, near the modern city of Volos.
History
It was founded in 294 BCE by Demetrius Polior ...
in Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
, funerary stelai
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
showed an assortment of mythological scenes, battle scenes, and more, all using the art styles of the Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
. Stelai in Ancient Greece were used almost in the same manner as modern tombstones, commemorating the dead. They were made of stone or marble, mainly. They often either showed scenes from the deceased's life, or a mythological scene. The use of stelai in Ancient Greece have been observed dating back to the bronze age.
Demetrias was a favorite residence of the kings of Macedon
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'' ...
, which is a reason as to why the Hellenistic style was so prevalent in Demetrias.
Funerary stelai
Aphrodeisia, Daughter of Theudotos
This Stele was discovered in Magnesia and is determined to date back to 276-168 BCE. It is made of marble, and is meant as a memorial to Aphrodeisia. The top of the stele is an inscription informing the reader that the painting below is of Aphrodeisia. Aphrodeisia is wearing a blue/green chiton and sitting on a chair, being offered jewelry, which she is accepting. It is not clear the context of the situation, but she may be at her wedding due to the dress.
It is currently on display in Vólos, Thessaly, Greece.
Stele of the "Warriors"
This partial stele is not in as good condition as the Aphrodeisia stele, but it still provides detail about hellenistic culture and what funerary stelai could have represented. The white marble stele, discovered in Magnesia, shows two men, most likely soldiers. They are thought to be soldiers because of the clothing of the sitting man, which is brought up above his knees, and the spears the men are carrying. It is impossible to determine who these warriors are, as their entire top halves are missing. The standing man is nude, and is also carrying a dagger.{{Cite web, url=http://library.artstor.org/#/asset/SS7730901_7730901_10901340, title=Stele of the ‘Warriors’, Full, website=Artstor, access-date=2017-10-31
References